Zero Waste and Economic Recovery the Job Creation Potential

ZERO WASTE AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY THE JOB CREATION POTENTIAL

OF ZERO WASTE SOLUTIONSThe Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 1 Figure 1: Waste Hierarchy with mean job generation figures per ten thousand tonnes of waste processed per year.

The data show that waste management approaches that have the best environmental outcomes also generate the most jobs.

RSIN, RC, RS*

*The limited data available on the job creation potential of the strategies in the top tier of the hierarchy suggest that the magnitude of job growth potential Executive from this sector could be signiﬁcant. Summary RPAIR 404 jobs Employment opportunities are important in any economy, and especially in times of economic downturn. As governments and the private sector invest in economic recovery strategies, particularly “green” or climate- neutral approaches, it is important to evaluate their employment potential. C40 estimates that the waste management sector has the potential to create 2.9 million jobs in its 97 member cities alone. RCYCL Zero waste—a comprehensive approach to waste management that RMANFACTR prioritizes waste prevention, re-use, composting, and recycling—is a widely-adopted strategy proven to minimize environmental impacts and 115 jobs 55 jobs contribute to a just society. In this study, we evaluate its job generation potential.

The data for this study came from a wide range of sources spanning 16 countries. Despite the diversity in geographic and economic conditions, the results are clear: zero waste approaches create orders of magnitude more jobs than disposal-based systems that primarily burn or bury waste. Indeed, waste interventions can be ranked according to their job COMPOST generation potential, and this ranking exactly matches the traditional waste hierarchy based on environmental impacts (Figure 1). These 7 jobs results demonstrate the compatibility of environmental and economic goals and position zero waste as an opportune social infrastructure in which investments can strengthen local and global economic resilience. LANFILL OR INCINRAT This study also finds evidence for good job quality in zero waste systems. 2 Multiple studies of zero waste systems cite higher wages and better jobs working conditions than in comparable fields, and opportunities to develop and use varied skills, from equipment repair to public outreach.

2 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 3 We used our generated global average job creation waste systems that integrate repair, reuse, and waste factors to estimate the number of jobs that could be reduction is even greater. Introduction created in a handful of major cities around the world We conclude that implementing zero waste strategies by simply achieving higher recycling and composting The economic crisis ushered by the COVID-19 to meet current and future waste management needs rates—two zero waste processes with the most widely pandemic caused millions of people around the not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air available data. The results are listed in Figure 2 (see world to lose their jobs. In an effort to bolster pollution1,2 but also provide significantly more jobs page 7) and show that recycling, remanufacturing, their economies, local, provincial, and national than disposal-based systems. and composting alone could create thousands of new governments are deploying considerable recovery jobs across the model cities; the potential of full zero funds. The initiatives that will benefit from recovery funds will not only play a critical role in economic resilience, but also in the development of more just Materials Recovery Facility in Buenos Aires (Argentina) operated by the worker cooperative El Amanecer de los societies. Cartoneros with assistance from the government and equipment company. 260 people work in the facility, processing Green City Growers is a landscaping company that turns materials collected by 1,800 recyclers. ©Santiago Vivacqua/GAIA unused urban spaces in Boston (USA) into edible gardens using The waste management sector is of particular compost sourced from local restaurants. ©Anto Astudillo/GAIA interest due to its large pollution impacts and the projected substantial increase in waste generation.3 C40 estimates that the waste management industry Zero waste vs. disposal has the potential to create 2.9 million jobs across the Zero waste is a comprehensive waste 97 cities in the C40 network.4 However, conventional management approach that prioritizes waste management approaches are often expensive waste reduction and material recovery. propositions, which are generally directly or Strategies include policy interventions to indirectly funded by the public. The result is that drive the redesign of products and delivery waste management is the single greatest line item Key takeaways systems; and increasing access to reuse, in many municipal budgets,5 despite much of the repair, recycling, and composting. The world’s municipal waste remaining uncollected. from the study: ultimate aim is to create a circular economy, Zero waste provides a proven solution to these shrinking waste disposal to zero. Disposal- environmental and economic challenges. Following based systems rely on incineration (“waste The Numbers The Insights the waste hierarchy—a long-established ranking to energy”) and landfills to handle the of waste management methods according to majority of the waste stream, resulting in Repair creates over 200 times Economic goals align with environmental goals; environmental impact—zero waste practices higher economic costs and environmental as many jobs as landfills and the waste management strategies that create prioritize waste reduction, reuse, repair, recycling, consequences. incinerators. the most jobs also deliver the best environmental and composting, in that order; and minimize outcomes. disposal (incineration and landfilling). This approach not only minimizes environmental harms, but it is Here we offer an analysis of the employment benefits also significantly less expensive than systems that Recycling creates over 50 times Zero waste systems offer more desirable of zero waste, drawing upon a wide range of existing primarily burn or bury waste. Unlike incinerators and as many jobs as landfills and employment opportunities as they can utilize skills studies. No published work has examined the incinerators. beyond basic manual labor, provide higher wages, engineered landfills that require large investments employment impact of a complete zero waste system, offer more permanent positions, and improve for the build and upkeep of a centralized facility, zero but many have analyzed the employment impacts of quality of life. waste systems, particularly in the Global South, tend the various components of zero waste, recycling in to be decentralized and rely on local community- particular. We compared these findings with data led collection, sorting, recycling, and composting on the employment impacts of disposal at landfills Remanufacturing creates almost 30 As the job creation potential of zero waste infrastructure, coupled with strong waste reduction and incinerators. We then used these findings and times as many jobs as landfills and processes is comparable across geographies, policies. These zero waste systems result in waste composition data from a number of major incinerators. governments across the globe have an opportunity both the creation of local jobs and a decrease in cities around the world to estimate the job creation to benefit from the implementation of zero waste environmental pollution. potential of zero waste in each city. solutions as part of their COVID-19 economic recovery strategy.

4 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 5 Figure 2: An idealized waste flow diagram. Jobs in recycling generally include secondary sorting and processing.

Data collection and definitions See Figure 1 for more comprehensive waste hierarchy. of waste management processes

We collected job production data from 36 method described in each publication: repair, Source peer-reviewed academic papers, news articles, recycling, remanufacturing, composting, landfill, and Separation government reports, company websites, and incineration. Reduction and reuse are not included publications from non-governmental organizations due to a lack of data. Sources vary greatly in their including GAIA representing 16 countries.6 In some use of terms, and in which activities contribute to RAL cases, tonnage and job figures for the same location their employment statistics. In particular, there are ORANICS RCYCLALS TRAS OOS and year from separate publications are combined inconsistencies regarding the inclusion of waste to calculate job estimates. We categorized the data collection activities in the job estimates. based on the waste management or processing ISCARS Secondary Compost Repair Overview of activities generally included in each category Sort

Repair: Activities that fall under Composting: Job figures for this category typically consist of composting generally include only collection, refurbishment, and direct work in producing compost Processing resale of durable goods like at a facility. In three cases, organic furniture or electronics. waste collection is included, in another three the authors do not specify, and in one case, indirect education and Remanufacturing Recycling: Employment activities outreach jobs are included as well. One study includes that fall under recycling generally an estimate for the number of jobs supported by include material collection, sorting, industries that utilize finished compost. Anaerobic cleaning, and other processing digestion is not included in this category and is not steps (e.g. baling of plastics), and, included in the analysis overall due to data Sale/Returned to conomy less frequently, additional constraints. processing to transform recyclables into raw material for remanufacturing (e.g. pelletizing of plastics or de-tinning of steel scraps). In three cases, jobs Landfill and Incineration: Job related to education and outreach on source production numbers in these two separation or waste stream analysis services are also categories are based on jobs that included. deal directly with managing landfill sites and incinerators and, in some cases, waste collection. Of the ISPOSAL Remanufacturing: This category is seven data points for landfill job creation potential, generally limited to activities that two include collection jobs, two exclude collection Incineration use recycled material as feedstock jobs, and the remaining three do not specify. Of the for manufacturing marketable eight incineration figures, one includes collection consumer products (e.g. newspapers jobs, three exclude collection jobs, and the rest do not AS made from recycled paper). specify. Landﬁll

6 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 7 Findings by waste management process

The following sections provide further insights on the data around each waste management process. The complete data set can be found in the appendix.

Repair

This part of the zero waste ecosystem is particularly crucial as it removes difficult-to- recycle, multi-material, and bulky items such as bicycles, furniture, clothing, large household appliances, and computers from the waste stream by redirecting them from landfills or incinerators to repair shops and thrift stores. While there is less data for the repair sector, the figures are consistently high, with an average of 404 jobs/10,000 tonnes per year (TPY) reflecting the high labor intensity required for refurbishment and repair. A worker at a material recovery facility in Tacloban, Philippines is putting collected cans into a bag. Beyond the number of jobs produced, the repair ©Rommel Cabrera/GAIA sector provides important opportunities for skill development. A number of studies cite numerous Woman repairs a used item for sale at a Reuse Center social benefits, including volunteer and job training in Ljubljana (Slovenia). In just ten years the city reduced Recycling opportunities created by the many charitable its waste disposal by 59%. ©Tjasa Frida-Fridizia/Zero Waste Europe. The recycling data compiled in this report municipalities, or of formal employment of waste organizations involved in the sector, low economic varies greatly, and appears to cluster into two pickers by local governments and private waste and technical barriers to entry, autonomy for small groups: one on the order of tens of jobs produced per management companies—is shown in Figure 5. The businesses, and the availability of lower-cost, The research outlined here might even understate the 10,000 tonnes of recyclables processed per year, and data also suggests that waste picker involvement is refurbished goods for lower-income consumers.7,8,9 importance of the repair sector as part of a healthy one an order of magnitude greater. Data varies within associated with higher job production. This While job creation metrics are important for economy. A 2017 analysis of the repair and reuse these two groups based on the type of material relationship is likely linked to mechanization, given comparing waste management processes, sector in Maine, USA, shows that the sector grew handled (some materials are more labor-intensive that waste picking and lower levels of mechanization occupational health and safety and environmental during the 2008/2009 economic recession, and than others to collect, sort, and process). A grouping often go hand in hand. We also tested the hypothesis health safeguards in the waste sector remain an continued to grow after the economy recovered, with of the recycling data (Figure 4) shows that operations that job production in recycling reflects the cost of important concern, particularly in the electronics a 6.5% employment growth rate in the sector that depend more heavily on machinery for the labor by grouping the data according to the World repair sector. Multiple studies document instances compared to the state’s average of 1.1%. The literature collection and processing of recyclables tend to be Bank income designation for each data point’s country of hazardous working conditions in waste electronics strongly suggests that a repair sector that prevents less job intensive than semi-mechanized operations of origin (Figure 6 on page 14). Most recyclates face repair and recycling operations.10,11 Moreover, one waste from needing to be recycled, landfilled, or that depend more heavily on manual labor. This makes globalized commodity markets, so economic theory study of the waste electronics industry in the UK incinerated in the first place is rich in opportunities sense—hand cart collection, for example, is more suggests that places with high labor costs would have notes that few of the workers gained higher level for jobs and, perhaps more importantly, a source of labor-intensive than the use of large trucks with lower job production figures. However, we found no technical skills or went on to find employment after economic resilience. mechanical arms; hand sorting is more labor- discernible relationship between a country’s participating in waste electronics training programs.10 intensive than the use of conveyor belts equipped economic status and job figures. We infer that with sensors and magnets. An analysis of waste mechanization is the primary driver of variability in picker involvement—which can take the form of the recycling job data. partnerships between waste picker collectives and

8 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 9 Figure 3. Recycling jobs grouped by mechanization. Semi-mechanized recycling

The job figures for semi-mechanized recycling are personal protective equipment, higher wages, 600 Lower levels of recycling mechanization still quite high, with an average of 321 jobs/10,000 improved prospects for the children of waste mean more jobs. TPY. This figure is derived from case studies that workers, and official identity cards that provide a Each dot represents a different data often described the work of waste picker collectives, measure of legitimacy and safety.13,14,15 In Buenos Aires 400 source. The red triangle represents the or of local companies employing former waste pickers (Argentina); Santiago (Chile); Bengaluru (India); and median. Numbers indicate the number that collect, transport, sort, package, and sometimes Dois Irmãos (Brazil), waste pickers contracting with of full-time equivalent jobs per 10,000 process recyclables in preparation for their use in local governments or hired by local waste companies 200 tonnes per year of material handled. remanufacturing. It is clear that a huge number of are paid up to 2.5 times the local minimum wage, livelihoods are supported by waste in places where often in addition to being able to sell the recyclables waste management is not highly mechanized. they collect.16,17 Former waste pickers employed at This is consistent with previous estimates of the facilities in Baku, Azerbaijan and Rabat, Morocco 0 informal waste management sector (individuals who receive guaranteed salaries and health insurance,18,19 Highly-mechanized Semi-mechanized Mechanization uknown collect, sort, and process recyclables without formal and the workers in Rabat additionally receive access recognition, wages or worker protections from a to a bank account and a special low mortgage business or municipality) which range from 12.5 rate. Many studies document what happens in the Figure 4. Recycling jobs grouped by waste picker presence million to 56 million people globally.12 absence of the income security that integration can provide: long hours for waste picking parents, and the Job figures are higher in places with 600 In many of these cases, the quality of life for informal involvement of more family members, i.e. children, active waste picker involvement in waste workers dramatically improves through in waste picking.17,20,21 By the same token, higher and waste management. integration into the formal economy. Integration guaranteed income for informal waste workers cannot 400 takes various forms: some cities formally recognize Each dot represents a different data only alleviate poverty but also improve the children’s and even contract with waste picker cooperatives; source. The red triangle represents the economic and educational prospects by reducing the elsewhere, businesses hire former waste pickers, median. Numbers indicate the number economic pressure for children to contribute to family recognizing their expertise. In both cases, the of full-time equivalent jobs per 10,000 200 income. recognition brings quality of life benefits, including tonnes per year of material handled.

0 Mechanized recycling No waste pickers es—waste pickers hired by es—no waste companies or municipalities picker collective This category is characterized by an average of Recology, which has achieved an 80% diversion rate, 17 jobs/10,000 TPY, well below the figures for semi- offers a starting wage to waste collection drivers mechanized recycling but an order of magnitude of $40 per hour, compared to the average waste Figure 5. Recycling jobs grouped by country income level greater than for disposal (incineration and landfilling). collection driver’s income of $16 per hour , and Job quality can also be better in the recycling industry employs over 160 workers at San Francisco’s Recycle 600 National income levels show no compared to jobs in disposal. A 2009 literature review Central and another 45 in construction recycling.23 correlation with recycling jobs. on the U.S. recycling industry by the CASCADIA Contrary to a general impression of recycling as consulting group found that the average reported low-skill, undesirable work, a number of case studies Each dot represents a different data 400 income in the recycling sector was higher than that cite diverse skills used by employees in education, source. The red triangle represents the of the disposal sector and the statewide average outreach, and waste stream analysis, among other median. Numbers indicate the number income in seven different states.22 In San Francisco, activities.24,25,26 of full-time equivalent jobs per 10,000 the worker-owned waste management company 200 tonnes per year of material handled.

Lower-middle Upper-middle High

10 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 11 Remanufacturing Landfill and incineration

The remanufacturing sector, where recycled materials like baled paper and aluminum are A waste-to-energy incinerator located in Munich, Germany ©Anselm Baumgart used as feedstock for the manufacture of consumer goods, represents additional job opportunities with an average of 51 jobs/10,000 TPY. Here, the data varies depending on the material in question and how individual facilities operate. One estimate for the use of newspaper waste in paper mills in the UK is as low as 8 jobs/10,000 TPY, while another for textile remanufacturing is as high as 160 jobs/10,000 TPY.27 Some remanufacturing plants accept feedstock such as plastic pellets that can be fed right into production operations, while others take in unprocessed materials such as asphalt or baled newspapers, and Aluminum cans sorted in a recycling facility in Buenos do some breakdown, cleaning, preprocessing Aires. ©Santiago Vivacqua/GAIA themselves.28

Composting

The use of composting to manage different composting sites, it does suggest that more organic waste generates an average of mechanization leads to fewer jobs. A site in Lahore 6.6 jobs/10,000 TPY. While the data does not differ (Pakistan) that utilizes highly-mechanized windrow greatly with variation in the level of mechanization at composting to dispose of organic waste has the 29 lowest job figure found, 2.7 jobs/10,000 TPY. On the With an average job creation potential of Waste incineration facilities are similarly poor high end, the inclusion of jobs for waste collection, 1.8 jobs/10,000 TPY of waste handled, sources of permanent jobs.38 Despite the geographic compost sales, and other products, in addition to landfilling is one of the poorest job producers, tonne range captured in the literature, the job creation standard compost processing contributes to the for tonne, of all of the waste management processes potential of waste incineration is consistently low, highest job figure at a composting facility of 14 found in the literature. Three studies estimate that supporting an average of 1.7 jobs/10,000 TPY. One 30,31 jobs/10,000 TPY in Bali (Indonesia). landfilling by itself provides only 1 job/10,000 TPY, proposed incinerator in South Africa would have 39 Composting is another highly cost-effective waste while the highest figure of 2.8 jobs/10,000 TPY reportedly created as few as 0.7 jobs/10,000 TPY. management practice. The composting operation includes jobs in collecting and transporting waste to 35,36,37 in La Pintana (Chile) processes 20.5% of this local landfill sites. government’s waste, but only represents 2.4% of its solid waste budget, and generates the equivalent of 3-7 jobs/10,000 TPY.32 Although composting produces relatively few jobs, separate collection and treatment of organics is a critical component of zero waste because it avoids cross-contaminating recycling streams and has some of the largest direct Community garden using compost from household climate benefits through avoided landfill methane waste in Tacloban (Philippines). generation.33,34 ©Rommel Cabrera/GAIA

12 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 13 Figure 6. Projected jobs gained and lost under a zero waste alternative scenario in which each city recovers 80% of the Job projections for major cities recyclable and organic material in its waste stream. Note differing y-axes between cities. SM = semi-mechanized, HM= highly mechanized We used global averages to estimate the job creation At the headquarters of Voka Snaga, a publicly-owned potential of several zero waste activities in select waste management company in Ljubljana, Slovenia major cities around the world. We used waste © Tjasa Frida - Fridizia/Zero Waste Europe Key composition and baseline treatment data from the New jobs in recycling World Bank, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, New jobs in remanufacturing and city publications to compare current waste New jobs in composting management to an alternative, high recovery rate scenario in which each city recovers 80% of the Jobs lost in disposal recyclable and organic material in its waste stream, Net jobs gained and uses the recycled material to remanufacture consumer goods. We set the 80% recovery target based on diversion rates in Canberra (Australia), Addis Ababa, thiopia (SM) russels, elgium (M) akar, Senegal (SM)

Capannori (Italy), Fort Bonifacio, Taguig (Philippines), 2,000 350 5,000

300 Kamikatsu (Japan), San Fernando (Philippines), 4,000 1,500 San Francisco (USA), and Toronto (Canada), all of 250 3,000 which have achieved 80% diversion from disposal. 1,000 200 Using city waste composition data and figures 150 2,000 500 100 from existing literature on material losses in the 1,000

50 recycling process, we estimated an overall loss rate of 0 0 recycled materials for each city that cannot be used waste picker quality of life through recognition and 0 -500 -1000 in remanufacturing.40,41,42,43 For cities that don’t have integration. Lastly, it is important to note that these Jobs gainedlost Jobs gainedlost -50 Jobs gainedlost sufficiently detailed waste composition data, we used projections are provided as illustrative examples urban, South Africa ar es Salaam, Tanzania (SM) haka, angladesh (SM) metropolitan area (SM) a general estimate of 20% derived from the literature. based on average job figures found in our extensive, 20,000 8,000 5,000 but not all-encompassing literature review. The 7,000 We assigned highly-mechanized or semi-mechanized 4,000 estimates, therefore, provide a rough sense of what 15,000 recycling job figures to each city according to the 6,000 job creation could look like in the zero waste scenario 5,000 3,000 level of mechanization described in the literature 10,000 but are not definitive predictions. 4,000 (where available) and the prevalence of waste picking 2,000 3,000 5,000 in the region. For cities that currently incinerate The results show that recycling, remanufacturing, 2,000 1,000

1,000 waste, incineration is eliminated as a waste and composting alone can create thousands of new 0 0 management process in the high recovery alternative jobs across the model cities. Job growth in the high 0 Jobs gainedlost Jobs gainedlost scenario. Although reduction, reuse, and repair are recovery rate scenario is particularly dramatic in -5000 -1000 Jobs gainedlost -1000 the most important elements of zero waste, in terms cities with low current recycling rates and where the of both job generation and environmental benefits, semi-mechanized recycling figure is used. The results o Chi Minh City, ietnam (SM) London*, nited Kingdom (M) So Paulo, razil (SM) we did not include them in our job projections further vary based on the total amount of waste 20,000 5,000 40,000 35,000 because the available waste composition data did not collected by each city. Cities with lower collection 4,000 15,000 30,000 indicate what percentage of waste could be diverted rates could see even greater job gains as municipal 3,000 25,000 10,000 through these strategies. As such, our job generation waste services are expanded. And while a transition 20,000 2,000 projections are underestimates that exclude the most to the high recovery rate scenario would lead to 15,000 5,000 impactful elements of zero waste. Furthermore, this fewer jobs in landfill and incineration, the analysis 1,000 10,000

0 5,000 analysis only covers the formal waste sector in each shows that anywhere from 10-60 jobs in composting, 0 of the model cities. The informal sector represents recycling, and remanufacturing are created for every 0

Jobs gainedlost -5,000 Jobs gainedlost -1,000 Jobs gainedlost -5,000 even more jobs in waste management, as well as the job lost in disposal. aforementioned opportunities for cities to improve *London projections are based on Local Authority Collected Waste, not total municipal waste, and are therefore underestimates.

14 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 15 processes offers opportunities for more highly-skilled waste. Moreover, while recycling plays a large role work in data analysis, electronics repair, community in this analysis, and much of the available data on outreach, remanufacturing, the operation of jobs in waste management covers recycling, zero sophisticated machinery, and other roles required for waste systems comprise far more than just recycling. material recovery. Repair, for example, the most labor-intensive of all the zero waste activities analyzed in this report, In our city-level job projections, we see that is not included in our city-level projections due thousands of jobs could be created in select cities to data constraints. The projections, which cover around the world through increased recycling, only recycling, remanufacturing, composting, and remanufacturing, and composting. In particular, cities disposal, thus understate the job growth potential of with low recycling rates, and lower levels of recycling implementing zero waste. mechanization have the highest potential for job growth, given that recycling and remanufacturing By directing recovery funds towards the creation dominate the job projections. In cities that already of zero waste cities, governments across the globe have strong recycling rates, however, we still see will reduce pollution, create long-term desirable significant job gains in composting. All cities, and employment, and build fairer economies. Zero waste especially cities with low collection rates that aim solutions present a path for just recovery that is to expand their municipal waste systems, have an viable financially, socially, and environmentally. important opportunity to create jobs through zero

The figures for the job creation potential of zero are precisely the ones that deliver the best waste systems and the insights on their impacts environmental outcomes, while the most polluting were obtained by analyzing data from 16 countries, interventions create the fewest jobs. This remarkable representing a wide range of economic and correspondence demonstrates the compatibility of geographic conditions. This diversity in underlying environmental and economic goals and positions the conditions, definitions, and methodologies is the waste management sector as an opportune social likely source of the significant range of employment infrastructure in which investments can strengthen generation potential data within each activity. local and global resilience. Nevertheless, findings are consistent in their Our findings also undermine the common impression rankings, and the differences between activities that waste management offers only low wages and are striking: repair generates on average three undesirable jobs. We found robust job creation times as many jobs as recycling; recycling creates across economic conditions and job numbers were an order of magnitude more jobs than composting; independent of prevailing wage rates. This finding and composting creates three times more jobs than was reinforced by case studies that found that zero disposal. waste creates large numbers of better-than-living The labor-based hierarchy revealed by the findings wage jobs. We also observed strong qualitative (with the processes that employ the most people at evidence of diverse, high-skill job creation through the top and the fewest at the bottom) mirrors the zero waste program elements. The labor intensity of Waste picker cooperative, SAWPA (South African Waste Pickers Association) ©Focalize Media/GAIA traditional waste hierarchy based on environmental the collecting, sorting, cleaning, analyzing, repairing, outcomes: the best strategies for job creation repackaging, and reselling involved in zero waste

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20 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 21 O’connell, M., Fitzpatrick, C., & Hickey, S. (2010). United States Environmental Protection Agency Investigating reuse of B2C WEEE in Ireland. (USEPA). (2020). Advancing Sustainable Materials Appendix: Expanded notes Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE International Symposium Management: 2020 Recycling Economic Information on Sustainable Systems and Technology. doi:10.1109/ (REI) Report. on methodology and data collection issst.2010.5507697 United States Environmental Protection Agency A summary of the data collected for this report can Two studies, for example, included composting Platt, B. (2013). Pay Dirt: Composting in Maryland (USEPA). (2002). Campaigning Against Waste. be found in Table 1, a graph of all collected data in their estimates for “recycling.” Where possible, to Reduce Waste, Create Jobs, & Protect the Bay. points can be seen in Figure 1, and a full list of data estimates from the literature were disaggregated to Ventosa, D., Forn, M., & Montserrat, M. (2010). La Institute for Local Self-Reliance. can be found in Table 2. In many cases, these data best match the categories as defined in this report. incineración de residuos en cifras: Análisis socio- points were calculated by the authors based on raw Where disaggregation was not possible, figures were Platt, B., Ciplet, D., Bailey, K., & Lombardi, E. (2008). económico de la incineración de residuos municipales tonnage and job data provided in the literature. Where assigned only to the management process category Stop Trashing the Climate. Institute for Local Self- en España. Greenpeace. possible, figures for full-time-equivalents (FTEs), Reliance, Eco-Cycle, and the Global Alliance for that best fit the activities included in the figure. A The Waste Group. (n.d.). Recycling Services. Retrieved rather than the total number of people employed, Incinerator Alternatives. figure that included jobs due to the processing of 2020, from http://www.wastegroup.co.za/recycling- were used in the calculations. Part-time workers metals, plastics, paper and cardboard, and organic Pridmore, A., Smith, A., Baker, K., Ahlgren, C., & services/ were assumed to be equivalent to half of an FTE, waste, for example, would have been classified as a Williamson, T. (2017). Climate change: Evidence review unless otherwise specified, and volunteers were “recycling” figure, given that the activities described Wilson, D. C., Rodic, L., Modak, P., Soos, R., Carpintero of mitigation options in the Built Environment sector. excluded when calculating job figures to better better represented typical recycling activities than Rogero, A., Velis, C., et al. (2015). Global waste Scottish Government. capture the number of livelihoods supported by composting activities. Collection jobs included in management outlook. United Nations Environment the waste stream. Classification of some of these recycling and composting job estimates were specific Quang Khôi, Lê. (2019). Báo Cáo Hiện Trạng Môi Trường Programme. figures was sometimes complicated by the fact that to the collection of recyclable and organic material. Quốc Gia. Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and The World Bank Group. (2013, August 21). In Azerbaijan: the definitions of the waste management processes the Environment. Managing Waste Safely. Retrieved 2020, from https:// covered in this publication varied from study to study. Recology. (2020). Recycle Central/Pier. Retrieved www.worldbank.org/en/results/2013/08/21/in- 2020, from https://www.recology.com/recology-san- azerbaijan-managing-waste-safely Table A1: Number of Jobs in Zero Waste vs. Disposal-based Waste Management francisco/recycle-centralpier-96/ The World Bank. (2016). Morocco Lets Nothing Go To Waste management Mean Jobs/10,000 TPY Interquartile range* Number of data points The Reuse and Recycling EU Social Enterprises Waste. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.worldbank. process (from most Network (RREUSE). (2015). Briefing on job creation org/en/news/feature/2016/02/16/morocco-lets- beneficial for the potential in the re-use sector. nothing-go-to-waste environment to most Seldman, N. (2015, March 2). Reuse Based Enterprises. The World Bank. (2018). Trends in Solid Waste harmful) Retrieved 2020, from https://ilsr.org/reuse-based- Management. Retrieved 2020, from https:// Repair 404 201-593 6 enterprises/ datatopics.worldbank.org/what-a-waste/trends_in_ Recycling (all) 115 12-166 28 solid_waste_management.html Tellus Institute. (2011). More Jobs, Less Pollution: Recycling (semi- 261 152-304 10 Growing the Recycling Economy in the U.S.. Global Zacho, K. O., Mosgaard, M., & Riisgaard, H. (2018). mechanized) Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. Capturing uncaptured values — A Danish case study Recycling (highly- 25 9-30 11 on municipal preparation for reuse and recycling of Temesi Recycling. (2020). The Process. Retrieved mechanized) waste. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 136, 2020, from http://temesirecycling.com/the-process/ 297-305. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.04.031 Remanufacturing 55 22-74 6 Tsydenova, O., & Bengtsson, M. (2011). Chemical Compost 6.6 4.1-8.5 11 hazards associated with treatment of waste electrical Disposal - Landfill 2.4 1-2.7 7 and electronic equipment. Waste Management, 31(1), Disposal - Incineration 1.7 1-2.5 8 45-58. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2010.08.014

*A measure of the range of data collected

22 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 23 Figure 1. Job production by waste management process. Each dot represents one study. Jobs/10,000 TPY Location ; Source Recycling (HM) 15.7 United States US EPA, 2020 Incineration Recycling (HM) 20 Pretoria, South Africa The Waste Group Recycling (HM) 20 United States Tellus Institute, 2011 Recycling (DNS) 25 United Kingdom Pridmore et al., 2017 Recycling (DNS) 25 United States Pridmore et al., 2017 Landﬁll Recycling (HM) 27.3 United States Tellus Institute, 2011 Recycling (HM) 32 San Fernando, Philippines Dayrit, 2019 Recycling (DNS) 36 United States US EPA, 2002 Compost Recycling (HM) 36 European Union Corbin et al., 2015 Recycling (DNS) 61 United Kingdom Pridmore et al., 2017 Recycling (HM) 96 South Africa GroundWork South Africa. Making Waste Work. Recycling (SM) 141 Goa, India Danielson, 2020 Recycling - Recycling (DNS) 160 United Kingdom Murray, 1999 highly mechanized Recycling (SM) 184 Buenos Aires, Argentina GAIA, 2019 Recycling (SM) 288 Dois Irmãos, Brazil Danielson, 2020 Recycling (SM) 292 São Paulo, Brazil Danielson, 2020 Recycling - semi-mechanized Recycling (SM) 302 Londrina, Brazil Danielson, 2020 Recycling (SM) 304 Bengaluru, India Danielson, 2020 Recycling (SM) 527 Araraquara, Brazil Campos, 2019 Recycling - Recycling (SM) 555 Santiago, Chile Danielson, 2020 mechanization uknown Remanufacturing 8 United Kingdom Murray, 1999 Remanufacturing 21 New York City, United Murray, 1999 States Remanufacturing Remanufacturing 25 United States ILSR, 2002 Remanufacturing 72 United States Tellus Institute, 2011 Remanufacturing 75 United States Seldman, 2015 Remanufacturing 131 United States Tellus Institute, 2011 Reuse Composting 3 Lahore, Pakistan Clean Development Mechanism, 2013 Composting 4 European Union Pridmore et al., 2017 0 200 400 600 800 Composting 4 United States Pridmore et al., 2017 Jobs per 10,000 tonnes per year Composting 4.1 Maryland, United States Platt, 2013 Composting 5 La Pintana, Chile Allen, 2012 Composting 5 United States Tellus Institute, 2011 Table A2: Complete list of data points by location, with sources Composting 6.2 Maryland, United States Platt, 2013 Composting 8 United States US EPA, 2020 Jobs/10,000 TPY Location ; Source Composting 9 United Kingdom Murray, 1999 Reuse 118 United States Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 2017 Composting 10 United States US EPA, 2020 Reuse 185 United Kingdomc; Friends of the Earth, 2010 Composting 14 Temesi, Indonesia Danielson, 2020 Reuse 250 Denmark Personal communications with Kristina Overgaard Zacho at AVV Waste Management Company Incineration 1 Pretoria, South Africa GroundWork, 2013 Reuse 496 Sweden Personal communications with Sebastian Holstrom at Incineration 1 United States Murray, 1999 Inrego Incineration 1 United States Tellus Institute, 2011 Reuse 625 Belgium Cools & Oosterlynck, 2015 Incineration 1 United States USEPA, 2002 Reuse 750 Europe RREUSE, 2015 Incineration 1.2 Maryland, United States Platt, 2013 Recycling (HM = Highly-mechanized; SM = semi-mechanized; DNS = Source did not specify or provide enough information to Incineration 2.5 European Union Corbin et al., 2015 categorize) Incineration 2.5 Spain Ventosa et al., 2010 Recycling (SM) 4 Rabat, Morocco The World Bank, 2016 Incineration 3 United Kingdom Pridmore et al., 2017 Recycling (HM) 6 Denmark Zacho et al., 2018 Landfill 1 Europe Pridmore et al., 2017 Recycling (HM) 8 San Francisco, United Recology, 2020 States Landfill 1 United Kingdom Pridmore et al., 2017 Recycling (HM) 9 United Kingdom Murray, 1999 Landfill 1 United States Tellus Institute, 2011 Recycling (HM) 9.2 Australia Access Economics, 2009 Landfill 2.2 Maryland, United States Platt, 2013 Recycling (SM) 10 Baku, Azerbaijan The World Bank Group, 2013 Landfill 2.5 European Union Corbin et al., 2015 Recycling (DNS) 12 United Kingdom Pridmore et al., 2017 Landfill 2.8 Australia Access Economics, 2009 Recycling (DNS) 12 European Union Pridmore et al., 2017 Landfill 6 United States US EPA, 2002

24 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 25 Repair creates over 200 times as many jobs as landfills and incinerators.

Acknowledgements

This report is authored by John Ribeiro-Broomhead Cite this report as: and Neil Tangri. It was edited by Natasha Naayem and Ribeiro-Broomhead, J. & Tangri, N. (2021). ZeroWaste Alexandra Rollings and designed by Shanthony Art and Economic Recovery: The Job CreationPotential of & Design. Other contributors and reviewers include Zero Waste Solutions. Global Alliance for Incinerator Cecilia Allen, Miko Aliño, Claire Arkin, Doun Moon, Alternatives. www.doi.org/10.46556/GFWE6885 Niven Reddy, and Monica Wilson at GAIA; as well as Shlomo Dowen at the United Kingdom Without © 2021 Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives Incineration Network, Kira Erwin at the Durban University of Technology, Jack McQuibban at Zero 1958 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA Waste Europe, Xuan Quach at the Vietnam Zero Waste www.no-burn.org ©Rommel Cabrera/GAIA Alliance, Robert Reed at Recology, Ana Rocha at Nipe Fagio, and Siddika Sultana at the Environment and GAIA is a global network of more Social Development Organization. than 800 grassroots groups, NGOs, and individuals. We This report has been made possible in part through envision a just, zero waste world funding from Plastic Solutions Fund. The views built on respect for ecological expressed in this publication do not necessarily limits and community rights, reflect those of Plastic Solutions Fund. where people are free from the DOI: www.doi.org/10.46556/GFWE6885 burden of toxic pollution, and resources are sustainably conserved, not burned or Also available at: dumped. We work to catalyze a global shift towards http://zerowasteworld.org/zerowastejobs environmental justice by strengthening grassroots social movements that advance solutions to waste and pollution.

26 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery The Job Creation Potential of Zero Waste Solutions | 27 28 | Zero Waste and Economic Recovery